For India, the match today was lost in the first few overs. When at 37, the top three — Tendulkar, Sehwag and Laxman — were back in the pavilion. And the man everyone was looking for at that stage was Mir Bashir Khan, the curator of the ground, who had predicted another 700-run match just a day before. What we got instead was Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed generating quite a bit of fire, and the Indian batsmen ducking and dropping.What did the trick for Shoaib and Shabbir was the thin layer of grass that was left to bind the wicket. Inzamam winning the toss was just as things turned out, and his bowlers found the bounce and carry, plus the swing and seam, totally favourable. Shabbir was wayward with his deliveries, but mixed it up with some utterly unplayable ones. Shoaib, meanwhile, was seniority personified; totally in control, making the ball talk. A lethal combo, and Sehwag missed more balls than he played. He was even dropped in the very first over but he could not make it count.Shabbir was finally making news for all the right reasons. The Multan boy first made headlines after rattling the West Indians in Toronto five years ago, but chucking allegations had bogged him down for the best part of the interim period. He is tall and he used that advantage as he unsettled the batsmen with his bounce. In an incisive opening spell, Shabbir knocked over India’s top-order and looked unplayable at times. The only way Shabbir seemed like conceding runs was, as it turned out as well, through extras. In all he gave away 14 wides and 3 no balls to the visitors, without which his spell would have read three-for-16.Shabbir is definitely back, and on today’s evidence provides the right buffer to the extremely quick Shoaib and Mohammed Sami. With Shabbir in the side, Sami can come in first change and have better control over the proceedings. Though Sami was a tad off-colour today, it seems that with the three of them on song, Pakistani bowling is in good hands.
